One to one counselling

Run by women, for women

YWCS provides one to one counselling to women who are experiencing emotional and mental health difficulties as a result of current or past emotional stress or trauma

Supporting women who need help, with one to one counselling when they need it, for as long as they need it, regardless of their financial circumstances.

From our clients

“It was wonderful to feel in a safe environment where I could talk about my problems and, because of their nature, it was helpful that it was a service specifically for women”
— YWCS client

“The NHS refused to help me and without this service I would only have prescription drugs to aid my recovery.”
— YWCS client

“At the start of my counselling I was nervous and unsure, but with an enormous sense of relief that I now had somewhere to go. I tried to get help from GP but that had left me feeling more hopeless as he wasn’t able to help.
— YWCS client

“Now part way through my sessions, I feel more grounded, less overwhelmed. I don’t feel as despairing as I used to. It’s given me a sense of feeling there’s light at the end of the tunnel. My situation is hard at the moment by it won’t always be. I’m more in control. It has literally been a lifeline for me.”
— YWCS client

Why is York Women’s so special? Hear from those who deliver and receive our essential services…

Case study

Jenny[*] was a young woman who had grown up witnessing domestic abuse. Her mother died when she was 16 and due to lack of family support was forced to live on her own. Unfortunately she became involved with an abusive boyfriend who raped her and she had nobody to talk to. As a result of the traumas she experienced she developed a life changing physically debilitating illness and was no longer able to work.

Through our counselling relationship she was able to trust me with her story, we discovered she had unconsciously turned off her emotions as they were too much to bear, she described them as being buried under a rug and she daren’t lift even a corner of rug to see what was underneath.

By giving her time and a safe non-judgemental environment we worked on lifting the edge of the rug and by end of counselling she was able to tolerate her feelings, and also found there were positive emotions she had not allowed herself to experience. She began to trust people again and form secure supportive relationships and find some sense of peace with her emotions.

Additionally, she had accepted her physical disabilities, gained confidence and enrolled at university, with the aim of retraining so she could gain employment in area where her physical disability would not be an obstacle to her.

Emma
YWCS Counsellor

* not her real name